“Well, you can take your own path in life after you finish serving your sentence from Father.” Razzan nodded, trying to be calm and patient. In his heart, he repeatedly asked God for forgiveness.

Mahendra glanced at Razzan sarcastically. “Really. He punished me like a child. What should I do? Follow his will?” the man asked himself.

“If you refuse, I will never finish punishing your mother either,” Razzan threatened, knowing how much Mahendra loved his mother.

“How cunning of you. Using Mama as a victim,” Mahendra screeched.

“Whatever. It's your choice. You can choose now. Do you want to obey my orders or not?” Razzan said to his son.

Mahendra sighed heavily. He honestly didn't want to, but thinking of his mother, he agreed.

Razzan pulled out a ticket from under his jacket. “Your departure is at 9am this morning. There you will be picked up by a man named Bahari.”

“9 AM?” Mahendra was surprised that it was only an hour from now. “At least give me time to say goodbye to my friend, lover, and mama, Dad!” he continued.

“The decision has already been made. If you refuse, then you can't see your mum for a year.” Razzan had his son in stitches.

Mahendra was like a man possessed. Jumping up and down in frustration. In a matter of hours, he would be leaving his life of luxury behind. A few minutes later, the man tried to think clearly. He had a lot to consider behind the plane ticket in his hand right now.

“Alright, I accept.” Mahendra agreed because he was thinking about his mother's fate. No more than that and not out of obedience to his own father.

Razzan asked Inem to take all the valuables that were on his son's body. Mahendra wanted to groan again, but remembered his mother.

“Father is too much. He took everything and even left only 500,000 in my wallet,” he grumbled to himself after he finished confiscating his belongings.

Unwillingly, Mahendra followed his father out of the house to the airport.

In the car, not a word was heard from Mahendra. Razzan tried to advise his son to change and reflect on the mistakes he had made.

“You have to come back here as a good boy. All this punishment is good for you, Mahendra,” Razzan said.

Mahendra stared out the window at the street. His father's words passed him by and were dismissed as wind. Father and son parted ways at the airport. Mahendra went where Razzan wanted him to go with high hopes of changing his son's out-of-control behaviour.
*

After a long journey, Mahendra finally arrived. A man named Bahari, who was about 26 years older than him, accompanied him to the shore. They disembarked from a speedboat that did not stay. Mahendra would like to think of his departure as a tourist trip, but he seems to have abandoned that judgement upon arrival.

The shore was again deserted of transport, leaving the few people who had just disembarked to greet him kindly before heading back to their homes.

A faint smile spread across Mahendra's face, hinting at a complaint about the location his father had chosen for him.

“There's no other means of transport here, Sir?” Mahendra asked Bahari.

“That's right, son. Boats only come once every three days and they bring goods to sell,” Bahari replied, carrying some goods from town.

Mahendra's face scrunched up in disbelief. “So, they won't come out again after entering here?” he asked.

Bahari nodded. “Except for medical emergencies or correspondence.”

“Are there no doctors or hospitals here?” Mahendra was still curious.

“There is a health centre, Bro. You are here because of Mister Razzan's mandate, so I will be responsible for all your needs. I hope you can behave yourself in this less populated place. If there is anything, then you can come to me.”

“I don't know what I'm here for either, my father suddenly sent me here,” she protested.

“Trust me, all of Mister Razzan's decisions are for your own good.”

Bahari took Mahendra away from the coast because it was getting late in the afternoon. The community's activity in the afternoon was to prepare food.

The unnamed island had only about 20 families. They decided to live in one place because they felt a sense of purpose. Almost all of them are religious people.

Mahendra was taken to an inn near the health centre. The empty room had been cleared so that guests could stay there.

“Bro, we have arrived,” Bahari said.

Mahendra was immediately the subject of attention when he arrived in the vicinity of the health centre. This was a situation Mahendra did not like very much.

“Why am I suddenly a spectacle?” he whispered to himself.

He even saw his own reflection in the window of the health clinic, which was quite a distance away, but Mahendra felt that his clothes and hair were not messed up.

“Oh my, how daft! I'm supposed to be their entertainment,” he thought.

Several pairs of eyes noticed the abnormality in Mahendra's clothing. The unusual style was one of the reasons the villagers were curious about the appearance of a name that had become famous a few days ago.

He was wearing all black clothes and a grey hat. The rucksack and luggage he was carrying were fine, but it was the black t-shirt with a ripped design at the bottom that made the locals frown strangely.

Feeling uncomfortable being seen by people, Mahendra immediately asked Bahari to take him to the location where he lived.

However, Bahari resisted the urge because Mahendra had to go to the village head first as one of the rules here. Mahendra sighed lazily. He couldn't wait to be alone and lay down. The effects of the ocean waves were still in his head.

“Look, his clothes are torn,” whispered an old woman who was sitting with her grandson.

“Yes, Grandma. Isn't there a tailor in town?” the grandson asked.

Mahendra laughed wryly. “Shucks. They don't even know the latest fashion. Even the price of this shirt can feed them for a year,” he gloated.